Room 14

Indian Court Painting

1558–1765, India, Mughal Empire and Pahari courts

Around 1560, Emperor Akbar founded a large painting workshop in which Persian masters such as Abd al-Samad trained Indian painters such as Basawan and Daswanth. The two traditions merged into a new, story-rich painting with glowing colours and gold. Under Jahangir and Shah Jahan, portraits and nature studies grew ever more refined; in the 18th century, painters such as Nainsukh carried the art on at the smaller courts of the Himalayan foothills.

All works

• Hunting with Falcons in a Landscape
• The Donkey in a Tiger’s Skin Gives Itself Away by Braying
• Jain Ascetic Walking Along a Riverbank
• Antelope and Deer Hunt
• Shah Jahan
• Portrait of the Aged Akbar
• Two Elephants Fighting in a Courtyard Before Muhammad Shah
• A Blindfolded Suitor Is Brought before a Princess